Rafferty Asset Management LLC Boosts Stake in Toll Brothers Inc. $TOL

Key Points

• Rafferty Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Toll Brothers Inc. by 3.2%, acquiring an additional 2,226 shares and bringing its total ownership to about 0.07% of the company, valued at $7.69 million.
• Various institutional investors also significantly increased their positions in Toll Brothers during the first quarter, with Sound Income Strategies LLC up by 84.2% and Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. increasing their stake by 218.4%.
• Analysts have set a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" for Toll Brothers, with a price target increase from $140 to $150 by Wells Fargo and maintained strong ratings by both UBS and Royal Bank of Canada.

Rafferty Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Toll Brothers Inc. (NYSE:TOL - Free Report) by 3.2% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 72,807 shares of the construction company's stock after acquiring an additional 2,226 shares during the quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC owned about 0.07% of Toll Brothers worth $7,688,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Sound Income Strategies LLC grew its stake in Toll Brothers by 84.2% in the first quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 245 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 112 shares during the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group lifted its position in shares of Toll Brothers by 52.8% during the first quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 272 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 94 shares during the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Toll Brothers by 152.6% in the 1st quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 293 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 177 shares in the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its position in shares of Toll Brothers by 218.4% in the 1st quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 363 shares of the construction company's stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 249 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quarry LP grew its position in shares of Toll Brothers by 1,035.7% in the 4th quarter. Quarry LP now owns 318 shares of the construction company's stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 290 shares during the last quarter. 91.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

TOL has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. UBS Group reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Toll Brothers in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Toll Brothers from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, August 18th. Oppenheimer lowered their price objective on Toll Brothers from $165.00 to $155.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. Barclays reaffirmed an "underweight" rating on shares of Toll Brothers in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price target on Toll Brothers from $133.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 21st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $145.92.

Toll Brothers Stock Performance

Shares of TOL stock opened at $138.00 on Thursday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $122.59 and a 200 day moving average of $111.62. Toll Brothers Inc. has a 1 year low of $86.67 and a 1 year high of $169.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 4.38 and a quick ratio of 0.51. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 1.33.

Toll Brothers (NYSE:TOL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 19th. The construction company reported $3.73 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.59 by $0.14. Toll Brothers had a return on equity of 17.42% and a net margin of 12.64%.The business had revenue of $2.95 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.86 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $3.60 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Toll Brothers Inc. will post 13.83 earnings per share for the current year.

Toll Brothers Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 11th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 11th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. Toll Brothers's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 7.35%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Toll Brothers

In other news, Director Stephen F. East sold 2,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $115.33, for a total value of $288,325.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 12,787 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,474,724.71. This represents a 16.35% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, COO Robert Parahus sold 9,831 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $130.84, for a total transaction of $1,286,288.04. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer owned 19,692 shares in the company, valued at $2,576,501.28. The trade was a 33.30% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 13,601 shares of company stock valued at $1,726,874. 1.54% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Toll Brothers Company Profile

Toll Brothers, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, designs, builds, markets, sells, and arranges finance for a range of detached and attached homes in luxury residential communities in the United States. It designs, builds, markets, and sells condominiums through Toll Brothers City Living. The company also develops a range of single-story living and first-floor primary bedroom suite home designs, as well as communities with recreational amenities, such as golf courses, marinas, pool complexes, country clubs, and fitness and recreation centers; and develops, operates, and rents apartments.

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